And Then There Were Two
by iheartvolume
Summary: One Saturday morning at Number Four, Privet Drive, not one, but two young boys received a letter from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...
1. Two Letters

**A/N: If you're even reading this fanfic, I'm going to hope that it's safe to assume you've at least read the first few chapters of the first HP book. For the purposes of this story, everything that happens at the beginning stays the same up until the day Harry receives the first Hogwarts letter in the mail. Because instead of one, there's… two???**

Chapter One: Two Letters

"Go fetch the post, boy!" Uncle Vernon barked at Harry. It was a usual Saturday morning at Number 4, Privet Drive. Harry had just finished making breakfast for the Dursleys when a small squeak of hinges and a flap of papers signaled the arrival of the day's mail.

Harry bit back a retort, knowing it would only get him locked in his cupboard again. There was no point. He'd vent later to the spiders that were his only friends.

He shuffled over, taking his time just to annoy his uncle a bit more. He finally reached the front door and retrieved the post, flipping through the letters with only a mild curiosity… until he noticed an envelope with _his_ name on it. Who on earth would write to him? He had no friends to speak of, no relatives except the ones he lived with. Curious, Harry pulled the letter to the bottom of the pile so he'd still have it when he handed the post over. Immediately as he moved the letter he noticed that there was one just like it adressed to Dudley.

This disheartened him. Anything sent to both of them couldn't be important. It was probably just an advertisment or… something from the secondary schools they would be attending next year. No, it couldn't be anything special…

"Hurry UP with that post, boy!" Vernon cried. Harry quickly shuffled back into the kitchen and handed the post to his uncle before turning toward his cupboard to open his letter in privacy.

"Dad, dad, Harry's got a letter!" cried Dudley, pointing at Harry's retreating form.

"So? It's mine!" Harry retorted.

"Let me see that, boy!" roared Vernon.

Harry reluctantly turned and handed the letter to his uncle.

"Dudley's got one too," his Aunt Petunia quipped. "Maybe it's from th-"

But her speech stopped suddenly as she flipped the letter over and noticed what Harry had earlier eyed with interest: a wax seal of some sort, very official looking, with the word "Hogwarts" inscribed, along with a crest of some sort.

She immediately seemed to go white, as did Vernon when he realized what she was looking at. Harry and Dudley were both thoroughly confused as to what could be affecting Mr. and Mrs. Dursley so greatly.

But of course, Dudley's greediness took over, and he said loudly, "I want to open my letter, mummy, I want to open it now!"

Petunia looked frantically over at Vernon, who seemed to have decided that they were going to pretend nothing was out of the ordinary.

"It's not for you, it's the wrong address, Duddy-kins," was Vernon's reply.

"But they sent me one too!" Harry said. "I want _my_ letter!"

"Well you aren't ruddy getting it! Go to your cupboard, now!"

"But-"

"NOW!" roared Vernon.

Sensing defeat, Harry removed himself to his cupboard, thoroughly confused by his aunt and uncle's reaction to the letters, and the fact that this Hogwarts person who sent them seemed to know the exact location of Dudley's bedroom as well as the fact that Harry slept in the cupboard under the stairs.

After a few hours of contemplation in his solitary confinement, his uncle suddenly opened the door and told him to grab his belongings.

Harry soon found that he had been moved into Dudley's "second bedroom", which was nothing more than a room full of broken toys and objects. He could care less; he was just happy to be out of that cupboard. But again, he was confused. Was this all because of those letters? What could it all mean?

Not being invited down for supper, Harry eventually fell into a soft slumber.

"Psst. PSST! Hey!"

Harry pulled on his glasses and looked around blearily. To his utter surprise, his cousin was standing in his doorway, clad in a pair of pinstriped pajamas that forced Harry to bite back a fit of laughter.

"Yeah?" he asked, yawning.

"I want to find out what was in those letters," Dudley replied. "They haven't collected the rubbish yet, and I saw which bin they went in. Let's go find them."

Harry was a bit surprised. This scheming was rather unlike his cousin, and he had to admit he would have thought it beyond Dudley's mental capabilities. But none the less, Harry was curious too, and knew that it was worth the risk. So they silently tiptoed down the stairs and out the back door, where Harry was forced to rummage through the rubbish bin until he found the two parchment-colored envelopes. Dudley snatched his out of Harry's hand, and both of them eyed their letters with a greedy curiosity. After a split-second pause, they both tore the envelopes open and pulled out the contents, which seemed to be two pieces of paper similar in color to the envelope they came out of.

Harry looked down and began to read:

_Dear Mr. Potter,_

_You have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry…_

He heard Dudley gasp, and they both stood there in a state of shock, wondering what this could possibly mean.


	2. Two Strange

**A/N: Thanks SOO much to *****blink* and Robert for the wonderful reviews, you guys gave me the motivation to write this chapter, so it's dedicated to both of you. :) Bear with me if Dudley seems too OOC, but considering the fact that no one expected him to be a wizard and we don't know tons about him, I figure there had to be a bit more to him than meets the eye. Reviews are appreciated more than you could know; your feedback gives me ideas and keeps me writing, so keep it coming! Storytime! –K**

**Chapter 2: Two Strange**

For a few minutes the boys just stood there, both in a state of shock. They were… wizards? Harry went on to read the rest of his letter.

_Dear Mr. Potter,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._

_Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31._

_Yours Sincerely,_

Minerva McGonagall,

_Deputy Headmistress_

Harry wondered if this weren't maybe some cruel joke. But then, he remembered, Dudley had one too…

He pulled out a second paper. It contained a list of books and other items required for the school. Harry scanned the list, wondering where on earth he would be able to buy "Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1" and a _wand_. And with this came the sinking feeling of knowing that he couldn't buy any of this anyway, because he had no money. And surely the Dursleys would _never_ put up funds for something like this. It was far too unordinary for him.

At the bottom of the page he noticed a hand-written note:

_Mr. Potter:_

_As you and your cousin will require assistance in obtaining the necessary items for your education at Hogwarts, someone from the school will be sent to retrieve you to collect your things on August 1. We understand that you will not be able to reply by owl, so merely send a letter adressed to Hogwarts through your post and it will arrive through the proper channels. We await your reply._

_Sincerely,_

_Albus Dumbledore_

Harry mentally calculated and realized that August 1st was only a week from tomorrow- well, today, considering the lateness of the hour.

Still in shock, he looked over at Dudley, who seemed to be in just as much shock as he was.

"So…" Harry began finally, tentativelly, "you didn't do this? This isn't some prank of yours?"

"N-no," Dudley replied shakily. "I thought maybe it was you…"

"No," Harry replied, "it wasn't. So you think this is real, then?"

"I dunno. Mum and Dad seemed freaked, so maybe… I guess we'll have to wait for this person to come get us, and then... I dunno."

"It makes sense," Harry said slowly. "I've always been able to do weird things… Things other kids can't. And whenver the weird things would happen, your Mum and Dad would get really angry… I wonder if they know?"

"That'd explain why they were so freaked this morning… But… I've always been able to do weird stuff too. Like, stop kids from moving when I'm beating them. Without touching them or anything… But Mum and Dad never said anything. I don't get it."

"Me either," Harry replied. "So I guess we wait for August 1, then. But we have to send a letter somehow, so they'll know to come get us."

"I'll take care of that," Dudley said. "I'll send one off tomorrow, claim I'm going to see a friend or summat."

"Wow Dudley," Harry said quietly.

"What?"

"I never knew you were that…"

"Smart?" Dudley responded with a laugh. "Yeah, I'm much smarter than I let on, I just have to keep up appearances…" he trailed off. "Listen, you won't say anything-"

"No, course not," Harry promised. "I'm in this too, remember?"

"Yeah," said Dudley distractedly. "I just… I can't believe this. It makes sense, but…"

"I know what you mean. Look, we have to hide it, though. We can't tell your parents, cause something gives me the feeling they don't want us to know about this, or want us to go. They might try and stop us."

"I don't care, we'll figure something out. If all this is real, then I wanna go. I mean, it's obviously not something everyone can do, or we'd already know about it. I wanna be magic," said Dudley. "But you're right, let's not tell them. Oh, hey, d'you want to go to the zoo with us on my birthday?"

Harry looked at him, shocked. "You want me to go?"

"I couldn't care less, but I know Mum and Dad'll ship you off to that weird old lady again, so I figured…"

"Wow, thanks Dudley. Yeah, sure. I'd love to go."

"Right. Well, let's get back to bed before they realize we're gone." Dudley was obviously embarrased by Harry's thankfulness.

"Yeah, ok," said Harry, and they slipped silently back inside and into their rooms, both pondering the strangeness of what was to come.

**A/N: Insert section about trip to the zoo here. I know in the book it happened before the letters came, but I decided to flip it a bit. I was gonna write the scene, but JK already has and I can't do it better, so… yeah. All the same stuff happens, except Harry gets locked in the bedroom instead of the cupboard. And nothing else happens until July 31****st****. Next chapter: Diagon Alley! :)**


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